Our overall goal is to test two hypotheses about sex roles: first, that psychologically "androgynous" individuals would be more likely than masculine or feminine individuals to display sex-role adaptability across situations, engaging in situationally effective behavior without regard for its stereotype is masculine or feminine; and second, that the sex-role rigidity of the non-androgynous individual emerges because he or she is defensively motivated to maintain a self-image as masculine or feminine. Thus far, a sex-role inventory has been developed which measures the dimensions of masculinity and femininity independently; and two experiments with college students have demonstrated that adrogynous subjects of both sexes display both "masculine" independence and "feminine" playfulness. In contrast, all the non-androgynous subjects displayed behavioral deficits, with the feminine females showing the broadest deficit of all. Further laboratory research is proposed to clarify these deficits. One study, already completed, demonstrates that the sex-role rigidity of the masculine male emerges both because he avoids sex-inappropriate behavior and because he selects sex-appropriate behavior. In contrast, the feminine female showed no such sex-role discrimination. It is anticipated that her behavioral deficit may be better described as inhibition or passivity than as "sex-role" rigidity.